Union critical of Indonesian military school visit

The Australian Education Union has criticised the Northern Territory Government for allowing an Indonesian military contingent to visit Darwin schools.

Officers from the Indonesian Navy sail training ship KRI Dewaruci visited three schools in Darwin at the end of last term and gave music demonstrations and handed out t-shirts to students.

The ship, which is the official Goodwill Ambassador ship of Indonesia, was in Australia as part of the Australian Navy's 100 year celebrations.

Northern Territory branch president of the Australian Education Union Matthew Cranitch has told the ABC's Julia Christensen it's hypocritical to allow the Indonesian military to visit schools but ban federal politicians.

"Education ministers, even when Peter Garrett was education minister, were refused entry to Northern Territory as well as Queensland schools," Mr Cranitch said.

"It's a double standard. Ultimately our schools are for learning and aren't to be politicised and if you certainly apply that rule for an education minister, who would have a valid reason for being there, then you can certainly be applying it for military personnel from a country such as Indonesia."

Mr Cranitch said it is good for students to be exposed to a foreign culture but tighter procedures should have been followed.

"Any cultural exchange in the right circumstances is a positive thing but when you don't have school personnel on board with it, when you don't have teachers who have been consulted or who have voted to allow it to happen, when it's just simply made at a bureaucratic level by media and marketing seemingly in the Department of the Government it doesn't filter down well through the college and through the schools."

BaseWatch, a group that considers the impact of the proposed US marine base in Darwin, has also asked why military personnel who visit schools are not required to have police clearance to work with children.

The group's Tony Young said it is interesting that the Government allows military representatives into schools without proper clearance.

"I checked with the chief executive of the Department of Education some time ago, Ken Davies, whether foreign military who were coming into our schools were required to have an ochre card, a police clearance, and apparently they're not," Mr Young said.

"All other volunteers who spend time with children in our schools need a police clearance, not the military."